The blog of the radio announcer for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

October 2011

Carlos Peguero continues to hit well in the Domican Winter League; Lorenzo Cain has heated up in Venezuela; Kentrail Davis has picked up some hits to raise his slash line in Arizona; and Casey Medlen with 9 Ks & 1 walk in 7-1/3 innings pitched in Arizona.

Here is a look at how they and the other former Timber Rattlers are doing in the various Fall & Winter Leagues:

The Australian Baseball League and the Puerto Rican Winter League both start this week. Jamie McOwen (’07) is back in Australia. I have not seen a full roster for any of the teams in either league yet. When I know, you’ll know.

Lowe has joined a club with Pat Darcy, Charlie Leibrant, and Mitch Williams as the other members. All four pitchers have given up “walk-off” home runs in Game Six of a World Series.

Carlton Fisk’s 12th inning homer at Fenway Park gave the Red Sox a 7-6 win over Cincinnati in 1975.
Kirby Puckett’s 11th inning homer at the Metrodome gave the Twins a 4-3 win over Atlanta in 1991.
Joe Carter’s 9th inning homer at Skydome gave the Blue Jays an 8-6 win over Philadelphia in 1993.

Mark Lowe in the Rangers dugout after Game 6 of the 2011 World Series PHOTO: Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News

“If you don’t want to be in that situation I was in as a pitcher,” Lowe said, “you’re in the wrong business. This is what I’ve worked for my whole career and I was where I wanted to be.”

Too bad his pitch wasn’t.

Lowe’s change-up drifted over the plate and Freese tattooed it to center field, the winning homer sending the record crowd of 47,325 at Busch Stadium into a delirious frenzy. The homer gave St. Louis a dramatic 10-9 victory and forced the first Game 7 in the World Series since 2002.

“I didn’t have the results I wanted,” Lowe said, “but tomorrow’s a new day and I could get in there and get a big out and nobody remembers this game. That’s baseball.”

I hope that Lowe does get another chance, but history says probably not. Neither Darcy nor Leibrandt got a chance to redeem themselves in the Game 7 that was played the next day. Williams did not get the opportunity because Carter’s home run ended the series.

However, the way the Rangers bullpen was used up last night, he may.

Speaking of last night’s game. I am not sure how many of you are into Win Expectancy Graphs, but take a look at this over at Baseball Reference. The graph shows how likely it is that one team will win the game. The line moves on each play. The more the line swings to one team, the more likely that team is to win the game.

To put it in words:
After Neftali Feliz struck out Ryan Theriot for the first out of the ninth inning, the Rangers win expectancy was 96%.
After Josh Hamilton hit his home run in the 10th, the Rangers win expectancy was 93%.

This piece has been up over at Bernie’s Crew for the last couple of days, so it’s about time I put a link to it here. I’ll put Jim’s introduction here, but you’ll need to click the link to see how pitchers in the Brewers Minor League system are lined up by certain categories.

Every year, members of the media and fans spend far too much time breaking down the ERA of minor league pitchers.

I have yet to talk to a scout who legitimately believes ERA illustrates much of anything in terms of talent in a young pitcher. It’s all about the projectability of the stuff, the skill set on the mound, and the relative age to his opponents.

Pinpointing the ultimate projectability of a pitcher’s repertoire is an artform that is often honed, but never mastered. It’s not as objective as simply standing in the scout’s section of the ballpark with a radar gun and logging velocity readings. It’s about understanding mechanics. It’s about understanding what could be there, rather than what already is.

One of the easiest ways to grab a snapshot of the Brewers’ minor league system is to categorize them according to the three main skills on the mound: ground-ball percentage, walk rate, and strikeout rate.

Jimmy Van Ostrand’s (Richmond, BC) two-out double in the top of the sixth gave Canada a 2-1 lead and they held on to defeat the United States and win the gold medal at the Pan American Games.

“To be going at this for so long and finally accomplish our goal is something truly special,” said Canadian Manager, Ernie Whitt. “I’m so happy for these kids. They’ve worked so hard.”

After giving up a run in the first inning, Canadian starter Andrew Albers (North Battleford, SK) turned in a phenomenal performance on the mound as he went 6 2/3 innings and allowed six hits, while striking out eight and walking none.

Scott Richmond (Vancouver, BC) came on in the bottom of the seventh with two out and runners on the corners only to get a fly-out to right field that ended the threat.

“Andrew Albers and Scotty Richmond came through for us tonight and my- gosh, it’s just a dream come true,” added Whitt.

My gosh, that last quote is so Canadian.

ESPN has highlights from the game. Check out that freeze frame on the video. I’m pretty sure that is former Rattlers pitcher Nick Bucci with the mutton chop sideburns who is ready to blowup that guys hand with the high five!

Canada and the United States are into the semifinal round. Canada, with three ex-Rattlers on the roster, face Mexico tonight. The US take on Cuba at 2:00pm today. Puerto Rico, with two former Rattlers on the roster, are playing Panama right now…for 7th place?

Like this:

This was a real promotional item for the Appleton Foxes in the late 1960s. I was alerted to the fact that this item is up for bid on ebay. It was used to promote Accurate Business Controls, Inc. and the Appleton Foxes. BUY IT NOW for $6.49 + $1.49 shipping…well, maybe not….well….no. Definitely…not…Unless they throw in a carton of Marlboro with a Foxes logo on it. You just KNOW that there was something like that out there. It was the 60’s….MAN!

I doubt that the Timber Rattlers would be able to do something like this now. Unless, the matches were stated to be used for for….tailgate grills or fireplaces or….No. The Timber Rattlers would not be able to do something like this.

Something that I have been kicking around for a few seasons is working on a way to collect and display the history of baseball in Appleton. We have a few things, but I am guessing that the really neat things – like the matchbook above – are out there in the basements and storage units of Northeastern Wisconsin.

Drop a note in the comments or send an email to rattlerradio@timberrattlers.com if you know of any.

Like this:

Thursday was not a good day for ex-Timber Rattlers starting pitchers in the Arizona Fall League.

Nathan Adcock (’08) was the starting pitcher for Surprise and took the loss as Salt River won 7-2. Adcock was the starter and allowed five runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Adcock is 1-1 in two starts down in the AFL.

The really bad news was in Peoria’s 10-9 loss to Phoenix. Cody Scarpetta (’09) faced seven batters in the first inning for Peoria and did not retire any of those batters. He allowed four hits and three walks. Phoenix hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam, to grab a 7-0 lead. Scarpetta is 0-1 with an 18.00 ERA in the AFL.

There was good news on other fronts in that game for Peoria.

Scooter Gennett (’10) went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Gennett’s slash line is: .417/.488/.667

Daniel Meadows (’09) pitched two innings and allowed a run on two hits.

Jed Bradley, one of Milwaukee’s first round picks in the 2011 draft, made his Arizona Fall League debut. He worked the sixth inning. Here is how it went:

Like this:

After a break of a few days, let’s take a look at how ex-Rattlers are faring in the current active Fall/Winter Leagues. That would be the Arizona Fall League, the Dominican Winter League, and the Venezuelan Winter League.

Two other leagues will be starting soon. The Puerto Rico Baseball League will start on November 4. The Australian Baseball League officially starts on November 3. There are a couple of exhibition games planned over the next few weeks.

Also, note that Santo Manzanillo has moved from the Arizona Fall League to pitch for Licey in the Dominican Republic.

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